TALL CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Make cake layers:Preheat oven to 300°F and grease two 10″ cake pans, or three 8″ or 9″. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.Divide batter between pans (pans should only be half full – if you use 8″ pans you will have some batter leftover) and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.Make frosting:Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). I found that stirring this over a bowl of ice water did a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.Make filling:Puree the raspberries in a food processor, blender or immersion blender. Press the puree through a fine-mesh strainer with the back of a spoon, removing the seeds. Heat the puree in a small pot with the sugar and cornstarch until mixture boils, stirring constantly. As it boils, it should quickly thicken. Let cool.Spread filling between cake layers, assemble, and spread ganache over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• The crust: butter a 9-inch springform pan; choose one that has sides that are 2 ¾ inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have leftover cheesecake batter); wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of foil.
• In a bowl, stir the crumbs, sugar, and salt together; pour the melted butter over the mixture; stir until all dry ingredients are uniformly moist.
• Turn the ingredients into the prepared pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides (doesn’t have to be perfect).
• Put pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven (the crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months).
• Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350° and place the springform pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes; set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
• Decrease oven temperature to 325°.
• The cheesecake: put a kettle of water on to boil.
• Working with a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes.
• With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt; continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light.
• Beat in the vanilla; add the eggs one by one, beating a full minute after each addition.
• Decrease mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
• Put the foil-wrapped pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
• Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the pan.
• The batter will reach the rim of the pan.
• Carefully put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned (and maybe cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan.
• Turn the oven off and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon.
• Let cheesecake luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
• After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful.
• Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
• When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours—overnight is better.
• To serve—remove the sides of the springform pan (run a blunt knife around the sides of the cake) and set the cake on a serving platter.